I'll go on record as not being a Hamilton fan. But that in no way takes away his achievements. I simply don't think he is that great of a driver compared to those who have gone before and those who are on circuit now. How he conducts his personal life ... I don't care. Niki Lauda was brash and is still arrogant, but I like him ... but he in my opinion achieved much more than either Hamilton or Vettel in an era when it was life and death, and you have to conquer the car as well as the race. so when I talk about Hamilton (& Vettel) its from my frame of reference and experience of following F-1 closely for over 40 years. ( I'm 48 - but I'll say that for the first 8 years I was not a F-1 thinker...) Sadly I tried to like Alonso when he was with Ferrari... but it just did not stick I cheered him on, but when he left I was happy. I Fear that if Hamilton comes to Ferrari.. I'll do the same but I cant say that I will be a huge Hamilton Fan....
I fear for Ferrari next year - Newey playing big role in 2017 Red Bull, says Horner Newey is serious force! I hope Ferrari can make the new rules work for them!
According to Pirelli, there is a risk that, viewed from outside (well, for the spectators) the 2017 cars will look to be "on rails": https://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/125826/f1-cars-will-be-on-rails-in-2017 Rgds
That sounds like marketing by Pirelli. No matter how much grip there is, F1 drivers will keep pushing until they find the limit of it. All the best, Andrew.
I'm deeply worried about them sticking to the insane front wings. Brundle etc have all said it...they may look beautiful pieces of engineering, but prohibit close following as the cars just don't have any grip. Now with even more aero coming... It's like F1 is out there running around with a loaded gun, shooting themselves in the foot...reload and do the same thing over! They did one thing right, the wider tires...but then not take away some downforce. I do not see the logic. If they wanted downforce for the speed, it would be very simple: Give them venturi tunnels! Limit front wing size, elements and overly complicated designs, lower rear wing elements and additions...The fix for more competitive racing is simple but F1 continues to make it harder for themselves.
Agreed. Anything that makes cars more, not less dependent on the front wing for grip widens the gap between the car in clean air and the car trying to overtake. Even with DRS, following cars lose so much grip through the corner immediately before the DRS zone that they cannot take advantage of drag reduction. It also affords the leader a DRS-proof lead after the first two laps of the race because he is running in clean air, as he is the only driver whose downforce is not compromised. Bigger tires, smaller wings...PLEASE!
Analysis: Is F1's 2017 focus helping Mercedes dominate this year? - F1 - Autosport This is interesting but Mercedes were set from before the change of regulations for this new formula. Others were so far behind and now this year we see Red Bull able to get closer than anyone else. Others may be switching focus but I feel Mercedes will be as strong next year given their package and resources and stability. ----- Mercedes' Toto Wolff believes his team's increased dominance of late is due to its Formula 1 rivals switching focus to 2017. The team is comfortably on course for its third consecutive constructors' and drivers' championship double, with Red Bull and Ferrari heading to Spa considerably adrift. Although Red Bull cut the on-track gap to a degree in the last race at Hockenheim, the general recent trend has been for Mercedes to edge further away. Calculating the percentage gap between the fastest Mercedes and its nearest rival at the end of the final session of qualifying through this year, there was less than a percentage point margin at all five races before Red Bull claimed pole in Monaco. That gap increased to just over a percentage point in Azerbaijan and Britain - with Austria and Hungary removed from the equation given the unrepresentative conditions - before Red Bull closed in Germany. Assessing his team's performance before the German GP, Wolff told Autosport: "I'm very happy with how most of the development parts we've put on the car have correlated with what we expected with the windtunnel and our simulations. "And I think we were on the right development slope, balancing out 2017 versus 2016. "That the gap seems to have increased now is an indication that maybe others might have switched over to 2017 and concentrated on 2017 a bit earlier than us. "But I think it is down to the development we have made within the team, and obviously next year's going to show it." Wolff's comments suggest Mercedes is surprising itself with its level of dominance in F1 this season. A challenge from Ferrari has failed to materialise and Mercedes would be even further ahead in the championship if it could somehow stop its drivers taking lumps out of each other's cars on track. Wolff feels demoralised rivals have perhaps given up the ghost early and switched focus to next year's major rule changes, but I think that interpretation lets them off the hook a bit. Ferrari began the season second best, but clearly hasn't been able to develop its new chassis properly. The Scuderia hasn't stopped trying - indeed Maurizio Arrivabene has repeatedly said Ferrari's focus needs to be simultaneously on 2016 and '17 - but just can't seem to make it work. The wildly fluctuating gap from circuit to circuit shows how recalcitrant the SF16-H has been at times, and Mercedes' dominance has as much to do with Ferrari's underperformance as it does Mercedes' own continued progress. Ferrari took risks in its efforts to bridge the gap this year and those risks haven't paid off. Arrivabene's suggestion the car has barely improved since Barcelona is a damning indictment. Red Bull has developed more consistently, helped in no small measure by that decent Renault engine update for Monaco, and has now overtaken Ferrari as F1's second best team. Mercedes engineered a headstart on everyone in pre-season testing and has also developed the W07 consistently, allowing it to maintain a decent advantage over the rest. Wolff's impression of greater dominance is created by the overlap between Red Bull and Ferrari, as the latter has struggled to improve technically while Red Bull has developed at its usual impressive rate - but from a starting point further behind than Ferrari's. The overall gap between Mercedes and Red Bull is definitely shrinking, but Mercedes' big initial buffer affords it valuable extra breathing space as attention of all teams inevitably shifts gradually towards the greater unknowns of next season.
Well, they´ve already done something like that: the bigger diffusser will make the aero less dependant on wings and clean air. Also the front wing is designed to be less sensible to dirty air. It looks like a small step in the right direction, but time will tell if it´s going to work or not. I´d keep reducing the wings gradually and delete the DRS.
I think red bull have as good a chance as merc of coming out on top next year with newey on board a lot more for the 2017 car
Will 2017 rules make Formula 1 boring? - F1 - Autosport Formula 1's 2017 aerodynamic revolution is set to bring higher cornering speeds and faster lap times, but there could be a downside to creating F1's fastest ever cars. Red Bull's chief technical officer Adrian Newey is "enjoying racing again", according to team principal Christian Horner, following a period of stagnant aero regulations that made the design genius turn his focus to other projects. But Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost doubts the combination of new aero and bigger tyres will have a positive effect. "I am not 100% convinced this is the correct way," he told Autosport. "We will have very high speeds in the corners, and people don't see the speeds in the corners. "I believe it will become more complicated to overtake. "These cars have a lot of downforce and wider tyres, which means it's difficult to follow in the corners and even more difficult to outbrake someone because you can brake much later." One of the biggest keys to what we can expect for next season lies in the tyres. Pirelli is in the early stages of its 24-day test programme that will conclude in Abu Dhabi on November 29, by the end of which it hopes it will be close to finalising its constructions and compounds for 2017. Upon its arrival into F1 in 2011 Pirelli was charged with the task of developing a degrading tyre that would encourage more pitstops. For 2017 it has been asked - primarily by the drivers - to take a step towards the past by making a more durable tyre. This will be achieved by reducing the thermal sensitivity of the tyre to ensure "they are not as peaky", according to Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery. There will still be a certain level of degradation, but it is a balancing act in trying to produce a tyre that does not overheat and allows drivers to push to the limit they desire while ensuring at least two pitstops per race still. During Bridgestone's final year in 2010, the Japanese firm's bulletproof compounds made marathon stints such as the 53-lap run on hard tyres achieved by Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi in Valencia relatively common. Warning of the potential danger to the spectacle, Hembery told Autosport: "It's a slight risk in certain grands prix. "We're still trying to achieve a two-stop race, but you can only create a stop when there's a need to, and that comes through performance loss, degradation, or through wear. "With less degradation you would clearly be less motivated to change the tyre as it's still going to be performing. "But the other objective is to make something better for the drivers to drive on so they won't overheat the tyres if they push too hard, that they could be more aggressive with overtaking." It is anticipated the new design of car will increase the drag along the straights, and with it negate some time, albeit for it to be recouped - and more - in the corners. But if a driver can hang on to what is expected to be phenomenal grip into a corner, can brake that much later because they will be "driving on rails" in that corner, according to Hembery, the chances of executing a successful overtake are likely to be limited. "When you speak to people up and down the pitlane there's a difference of opinion, from some who say 'Of course it will' [improve overtaking], to drivers who say 'Absolutely not'," said Hembery. "There isn't a unanimous opinion of what it's going to do." Hembery feels it was "the right time to make a big change to the tyre", given it has been "frozen in development" over the past three years to allow the teams to focus on the engine regulations. But with a less degradable tyre, the likelihood of fewer pitstops and the potential ability to overtake into a corner being reduced, there is a risk the changes could make F1 more boring. Hembery added: "That's what I said. "There is this difference of opinion when you talk to people, whether it would actually generate more overtaking because you can push harder, and you can take more aggressive overtaking manoeuvres into braking zones. "It also depends on what the effects of following a car are. "We've heard from many people that one of the other issues of today is the disturbance of airflow. "If you're following somebody it disturbs your aero package and it reduces a little bit of performance there. "So before we write anything off let's try it. A lot of minds have gone into coming up with these regulations."
Hamilton fears 2017 F1 cars won't be more fun to drive Alonso thoughts the article: “But I was lucky to drive the 2004/2005 car, and even in 2009 they were more extreme F1 cars. When I see a GP2 cars three seconds slower than FP1, I feel a bit sad. “The cars are heavy, [have] no grip, we save fuel, tyres, everything from lap one. So it is against the instinct of drivers. He is spot on.
Ferrari testing today and tomorrow in Barcelona. Somewhat in doubt of actually going as I think the chance of getting access (preferably paddock) is slim....and in all honesty, only paddock is worth it as it's the only chance to get close to the car/drivers.
Just in case somebody thinks noise doesn't matter. https://www.facebook.com/uniladmag/videos/2372216759468036/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED
I anticipated that. Wider tyres and increased downforce make the cars looking as if they corner on rails. Shortening braking zones diminish overtaking opportunities. I predict the cars will be less spectacular to watch.
